Cermak: International flair to 'Proctors Block'

Marv Cermak, Covering Schenectady

Published 8:41 pm, Monday, September 30, 2013

Several years ago, I invented the title "Proctors Block" as a catch-all identification for the growing number of businesses operating on State Street between Broadway and Clinton.

Since most everyone knows where the venerable theater is located, the handle caught on in a blink. City movers and shakers, including the Chamber of Commerce, started using the term.

Well, the other night while I was talking with a couple of local business owners that chunk of downtown real estate was referred to as the "Super Block.'' It's kind of fitting from a gastronomical standpoint.

I recall a decade back when Nico's Pizzeria, across the street from Proctors, was the only nearby place to grab post-show food. Since the rebirth of Proctors as a year-round people magnet, the menu on the block has become international.

Aperitivo and Johnny's offer food geared toward those with a taste for Italian. Bombers Burrito Bar presents a Mexican flair and the latest addition is Zen, an Asian restaurant. The Parker Inn, an umbilical cord from the theater entrance, has a traditional American menu.

A seventh eatery coming by year's end or early 2014 will be Mexican Radio. The building, undergoing massive renovation, is located on State Street, but 30 feet on the other side of the Broadway boundary. For my money, it's essentially a part of the aforementioned block.

So, call the Metroplex-supported results the Proctors Block, Super Block or whatever. It's quite an impressive dining-out surge compared to the times when your choice was a no-table-service pizza or nothing.

A couple of retired downstate schoolteachers called me about a decade ago saying they were going to produce a "look back" documentary about the 1954 Schenectady team that won the Little League World Series.

Bob Hoffman and Lou Boronson, both Capital Region natives and Union College grads, did a ton of interviews and filming. In 2009, they showed an incomplete "Six Innings to Destiny" to about 80 sports leaders at Schenectady High. They wanted local input to tweak the film before its release.

After the preview, years passed without a finished product, so I thought the project was scrapped.

Not so. In a recent email, Hoffman explained that the show was stalled because of licensing difficulties and finances. He said some of those hurdles remain, but the movie is still a go because the story is too good not to be told.

"The issues portrayed in the film are not only those of the '54 world champs, but they are as contemporary now as they were 60 years ago," Hoffman said. "The impact of youthful success on the players' adult lives has universal application to all teams, in all sports, in all eras." No release date is set.

Columnist discusses memoir

Carl Strock tells me his new book "From D'burg to Jerusalem'' is hot off the press. He's launching a series of talks and book-signings at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Quaker Street Library in Duanesburg.

Strock was a 25-year columnist for the Daily Gazette before retiring last year. (He currently writes a blog called "A view from here, there and everywhere" on timesunion.com.) Strock says the book chronicles his journalistic adventures from the most trivial town garage roof painting in Duanesburg to the most far-reaching religious nationalism in Jerusalem.

Ernie Tetrault, retired 40-year WRGB-TV anchorman, urged Strock to write a book. "He has helped many in the community needing assistance in dealing with officials often blinded by aggressive ambition, ignorance and even pigheadedness," Tetrault said.

Tetrault said Strock should be cited for "His deep sense of justice and fair play." I'll second that motion.